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Long time resident of Tokyo ---
"Where is this woman I once knew so well?
Memories fading or hurtling by like a
howling wind at a speed I can't fathom or define.
A star hangs like a teardrop from her eye,
quivering but never falling.
I search the empty corridors of my soul
in hopes of catching just another glimpse
of who she once presumed herself to be.
Where is this woman who trod with such certainty,
where is she now?
I mourn her passing as another dawn breaks
in my restless heart."

24 Responses so far.

The site has photos of Nixon bowing to Japanese Emperor Hirohito, and Eisenhower to Charles De Gaulle.
Also shows Bush Jr. kissing and holding hands with Saudi King Abdullah, plus Bush Jr. bowing to the pope.

Thank you javaz for providing the link and I would just like to add again, that every head of state who has been officially introduced to the Emperor and Empress, including Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their trip here many years ago, bowed to the Emperor.

Double standard hypocrisy is something that the RW excel at, they should add it to their curriculum vitae for that time ahead when they lose their upcoming elections.

Everyone bows when being introduced to the Emperor and Empress, it is customary and a tradition here. Every head of state who has ever visited here has done the same, no matter which country they represented. To make a song and dance about it or single out President Obama for doing so, is obnoxious and also extremely insulting to the Japanese people.

Had Huffy been a truly progressive site or AH are true progressive, they would have included the transcript of the President’s speech to show his efforts and progress in mending fences around the world instead of nitpicking and suggesting that the Japanese are second class citizens, which I find disgusting.

I would go to leave a comment but it would go pending and I don’t think that my wellington boots are large enough or long enough to save me from sinking in the shit swamps that Huffy has become, I’ll just keep my integrity and self respect instead.

As for the other stupid story laying bare the ignorance of the right, the Emperor is the son of Emperor Hirohito, was a child during the war and has no power apart from symbolic, the same way as the royal families around the world. To call this man names shows that they have no grasp on reality or the history of other countries. I would be happy if one day a law was introduced to forbid the truly ignorant from ever uttering a word in public again. What a peaceful world this would be then.

The Republican response had President Obama NOT bowed, would have been just as critical but on the opposite side of the spectrum.
They most likely would have criticized him for his lack of manners and respect, and demand that somehow President Obama apologize to Rush Limbaugh.

I’m in the Japan, I bow to my neighbours, I bow to people who are older than me, I bow to people that I respect, heck I even bow while speaking on the phone. It is as normal as a handshake is everywhere else, these people need either a lobotomy or a radical brain transplant. How many have ever left the country, know where to point to when asked to identify other countries on a map or even possess a passport?

“Empty vessels make the most sound” is very true, I rest my case or whatever.

Well said on all counts Kalima. Same as they go after him for using Farsi, or citing a famous Urdu poet in Pakistan.

They are xenophobes, plain and simple. I would have thought even they might not touch such a famous cultural practice known to Americans through popular culture, but that’s just how know-nothing nativist they are.

There’s nothing at all wrong with that either. I’m of the belief that it’s a good thing to show that kind of respect. The right wing and Huffington, but I repeat myself, will do ANYTHING, to invalidate whatever our President does — whenever he bats an eyelash.

I look at Arianna Huffington’s site as bad as freerepublic. Actually, worse. Freerepublic is open about who they support — they don’t hide it. Huffington is twisted propaganda.

Once in a blue moon they may throw out something to quiet down the reader’s whom they fear will leave them en masse, but in my opinion, a walkout needs to be done — one that will get her attention.

HuffNO NOV-DEC2009

Beginning today.

If people want to see if they’re having any impact on that right-wing propaganda site they can check:

I agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly, she needs to be exposed as well as her tabloid RW propaganda leaning rag. I say the same, a mass exodus of genuine progressive and liberal posters, leaving only her click producing trolls and staff who pose as trolls there, would be a fitting reward for her treachery since the primaries last year.

I for one would do a victory dance on her image, even if I had to print it out from one shown on her site, I really hate going there, my Mac starts to hiss.

I am pleased that we have come to our senses and realize that the very last thing that AH wants published are actual facts or the truth.

When I went there one day in August, a little too much wine, to check if I could still post comments, I managed to see 5 posted and the rest went straight to pending never to be seen again. We don’t need this.

To me Huff is now like a sordid, broken down bar somewhere, the piano player sucks, the place smells of dirty ashtrays and sweat, and the restroom is overflowing with urine and vomit.

The “anonymous” posting which I posted above was an attempt I had made to post to Huffington the first time (without the mention of her sharing a shower with Rush Limbaugh, but the entire write-up preceded by the question “What next?”

They knew that I was making fun of their stupidity, so they never allowed it to post.

It must be difficult for Republicans to try and justify their positions if they’ve been properly educated; they’d have to intentionally forget the lessons of history, and THEN there would be the overwhelming guilt of intellectual dishonesty for writing like an idiot.

Kalima, thanks for posting the link to the speech. I rarely sit down and read presidential speeches from start to finish. It seems so often they’re written by a committee of advisers and just read by whoever happens to be president at the time. But not this one.This speech seemed to really have come from Obama’s mind and heart, and to have been based on his own experience and insights.

This guy is so smart! And he’s had such a broad exposure to the world--from early childhood on. He truly seems tailor-made for this moment in history. When I read speeches like this, it reminds me again of what a huge change for the better his election really was.

Kesmarn, my pleasure and like you believe that this speech was from his heart as were most of his earlier speeches.

American is lucky, many are too hateful to see the man, only his skin colour but we Europeans appreciate, his commitment, his compassion and his involvement on the world stage once again after the dismal display of lacking diplomacy shown in the Bush years.

According to my hubby’s evening paper, the applause was deafening after his speech.

Btw a little trivia. The top of the photo, which my friend AdLib kindly inserted into this post, reads (in Katakana) “Obama” and of course his campaign slogan written underneath in English, “Yes we can!”